Devices which make use of white noise to induce sleep in adults and to soothe and pacify infants are well known and a few representative examples include:                GB 1,165,541 Titled: Sleep Inducing Device.        This specification discloses a sine wave oscillator inside a pillow which can generate white noise.        U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,096 Titled: Method and Apparatus for Therapeutic Motion and Sound Treatment of Infants        This specification discloses an apparatus which imparts a rhythmic cyclic motion to a support surface as well as generate a sound at 60-80 decibels within a frequency range of 200 Hz and 4000 Hz.        U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,616 Titled: Baby Calmer        This specification details a sound source which generates a random noise over an audio frequency range to at least 10 kHz.        U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,471 Titled: Garment Useful for listening to Audio Signals        This specification discloses a garment to be worn on the upper torso of a human.        
However, conventional infant calming devices employing white noise such as those outlined above suffer from one or more of the following drawbacks:                being bulky and not easily carried such as pillow;        being affixed to a support surface such as a cot;        needing to be worn by the infant which can be uncomfortable, impractical or dangerous in some situations or unsightly;        being designed for use within a cot or bassinet and not being readily portable;        producing a sound that is dangerously loud if the infants ear is positioned too close to the device;        not producing a sound in a region substantially adjacent an infant's ear;        producing a sound which is audible to adults in the vicinity of the device;        not permitting the adult holding the device in use to safely or confidently hold the infant at the same time, or to maintain tactile contact with the infant while in use        not being readily adaptable to a variety of different situations in which an infant may need to be calmed.        
It is desirable for the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.
Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only.
All references, including any patents or patent applications cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents form part of the common general knowledge in the art, in New Zealand or in any other country.
Throughout this specification, the word “comprise”, or variations thereof such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.